Dwarves
Dwarf Myths According to the most ancient dwarf legends, every Dwarf is descended from one of two brothers, called Dawi and Duraz. They were created fully formed and emerged from the Womb of the World at the centre of the planet at the beginning of time. From there they worked for a hundred years, digging through the rock with their bare hands. Many stories are told of their confrontations with legendary beasts like Chol, the Burning Wyrm, or their astounding feats of strength and endurance, such as the month-long climb up the Chains of Kymull. Eventually, however, they reached the surface, and looked out upon the world as the first sun rose. As they gazed upon the new and wondrous sight, Duraz was the first to speak. He thanked the creators that they had rewarded them both with such a beautiful gift, in recognition of a task well done. At this, Dawi looked confused. According to his view, the creators were showing them the way to a new and glorious horizon, a new task to complete. Duraz took umbrage at the suggestion, not eager to abandon the earth he had fought to conquer. Dawi considered him short-sighted, unable to see the potential that lay before them. They exchanged harsh words, then blows. Only with the intervention of the gods themselves were they convinced to stop their fighting. Unfortunately, the damage was done, and Dawi and Duraz, once all but inseparable, parted ways, never to meet again. In modern times, every dwarf can now trace his lineage to either Dawi or Duraz, and the ideological difference remains to this day. Dawi dwarves believe all of the earth is theirs for the taking, over and underground, and work to integrate with other races to support their holdings while looking down on the Duraz as close-minded and backward. The Duraz, meanwhile, scoff at the Dawi, believing them to be childish and 'un-dwarven' for overstretching their limits, preferring to remain in their mountain homes and be as self-sufficient, with as little contact with outsiders, as possible. Generally, these tensions result in little more that good-natured ribbing or low barroom muttering, but when differences in birth lead to dramatic differences in leadership policies and strategies, it is not unheard of for more dangerous tendencies to rise to prominence. Clan-related riots, protests, even assassinations and full scale revolts are all present in dwarven history, and even today there are tensions brewing thanks to the ideological differences between the Dawi Emperor and the Duraz High King. Dwarf Culture If there is one word to describe dwarves as a culture, it would be 'proud'. Many of the most unusual dwarven customs and idiosyncrasies revolve around maintaining and projecting ones personal, familial and racial honour. For example, there is a strong taboo in dwarven culture against cutting of the skin or hair - hence the dwarven propensity for long beards. The logic goes that by cutting into a person's body, you are insulting their ability to protect themslves, and any dwarf that has such an action done to them has the right to demand satisfaction up to and including a duel to the death. In more conservative cultures, especially among those dwarves that still live in the mountains of their ancestral home, this has been taken to the extreme such that surgeons are banned, and medical aid must be accomplished through magical aid where possible, and potions and poultices where not. A dwarf may not even operate on himself, for risk of shaming himself. The one exception to this rule is observed during the traditional dwarven marriage ceremony, which concludes with each partner biting off the top of the other's middle finger in a symbolic gesture of trust and sacrifice. This practice carries through to death rites. Rather than let vermin and insects consume the corpse of an honoured dwarf, they are preserved - first with embalming fluids, then a skin-suffusing resin, then finally a rune of cold worn on a leather thong around the neck.. Finally the bodies are interred in enormous, labyrinthine crypts that are common to all but the smallest dwarven settlements. In the catacombs below the dwarven capitol, there are even magical runes that shroud the entire structure with a rime of ice to prevent any decay to the honoured dead interred there. In the same vein, every dwarf must undergo mandatory military training for a minimum of two years before they are considered an adult. This is not for their own protection, but for their family's, and their future family's. If ever a dwarf were to be caught in a situation where he was required to fight and he was unable to, it is tantamount to admitting that he does not care for and respect his family, and that he has forgotten the legacy of his ancestor's, whose actions brought him into the world. Luckily for some, in more recent times such training has included archery, seigecraft, sapping and magical instruction for those with the aptitude. Nevertheless, there is still an unsavoury unspoken undertone at the heart of dwarven culture that abhors the weak and the malformed, even if they suffer through no fault of their own. Sexuality and Childbirth Dwarf families are extremely close-knit. Most dwarves would gladly sacrifice themselves for their kin, and these values are drilled into them from an early age. An entire extended family - parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, nephews neices and cousins - will usually live in the same neighbourhood, and all will chip in to help raise children when required. Nevertheless, sometimes orphans or foundlings are unavoidable, and in these cases they are usually quickly re-homed, at which point they are considered part of the family completely and without reservation. Homosexual activity is accepted and indeed considered normal in dwarven culture, with one important caveat. Dwarven births are difficult, and the birth rates among dwarves are low, despite their relatively short gestation periods compared with their lifespans (approximately seven months from conception to birth). This effect is only exacerbated by the taboo against surgical intervention. Therefore, it is required that every dwarf must 'do their duty' to their race and reproduce at least twice in their lifetimes. Those that refuse are first fined, then punished, then finally exiled; and it is the responsibility of town elders to inquire after younger dwarves and ensure that they are continuing to 'do their duty'. The only exception is those who have been determined to be medically sterile, and those who have been rendered unable to reproduce during fighting to protect dwarven homes. Thus it is perfectly acceptable to live with and marry someone of the same gender, as long as you have, or are continuing to try to have, children. ''Needless to say, many choose exile before it reaches that stage - it is a sad truth that it is far easier to ignore dwarf culture than to change it. In general, such rules are only enforced in traditional, all-dwarf settlements, and a couple living in a more metropolitan, mixed-race lowland city can expect to live their lives relatively undisturbed. Dwarves having children with other races is not possible. It is not known why, but no pregnancy will ever take hold, whether the dwarf participant is male or female. In stories, however, half-dwarf children do occasionally crop up, though they are invariably indistinguishable from the race of the non-dwarf parent. Such stories inevitably take two forms: either the child is raised among dwarves, to much hilarity, or the child is raised amongst the other parent's kind, and it is their secret shame. Dwarves do not like these stories. Racial Variation Generations of dwarves choosing to live either overground or underground has wrought slight changes in their physiology. Dawi dwarves tend to be taller than their Duraz cousins, as well as more brown in skin colour compared to the greyish cast of the Duraz. Duraz also tend to be brawnier in order to work in their mountain homes, whereas Dawi dwarves have keener eyesight to help them survive on the surface. (''Mechanically, Dawi dwarves tend to be 'Hill Dwarves' and Duraz dwarves tend to be 'Mountain Dwarves') As intermarriage between the two groups is uncommon, it's possible that more differences may occur as time marches on and the two become more and more genetically distinct. At present though, it's very possible for a Dawi dwarf to be stronger, and a Duraz to be more perceptive. These subtypes are not prescriptive, and there are always exceptions. Rumours also abound of a third subrace of dwarves - Duraz dwarves who completely shun the outside world and burrow deeper and deeper into the earth instead. Legend says that these 'lost' clans are even more grey and dour than the typical Duraz, and that they are rabidly hostile to outsiders. Dwarves of course deny this, condemning the rumours as typical elven propaganda.